Rotary engine.



A. A. EDWARDS & A. OLSON.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY22,190B. 961,849, Patented June 21, 191-0.

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ANDRE'W A. EDWARDS AND ADNA OLSON, OF STANWOOD, WASHINGTON.

ROTARY ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ANDREW A. EDWARDS and ADNA OLSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Stanwood, in the county of Snohomish and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a rotary engine which shall be of simple and inexpensive construction, and durable and efficient in operation.

With these ends in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations thereof, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of an engine embodying our invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same; and Fig. 8 a sectional view taken partly through one of the steam-chambers and partly through the engine cylinder, and with the piston drum omitted.

The reference numeral 5 designates the engine casing having a cylindrical bore 6 and provided with removable ends 7.

Seated in recesses 8 formed in the periphery of the cylinder-bore are abutments 9 which are spaced at equal distances apart and extend longitudinally from one of the cylinder ends to the other. These abutments are each formed With a face having a centrally arranged convex portion 10 with co-extensive concave portions 11 which merge IZvith the peripheral face of the cylinder ore.

Centrally of the cylinder ends 7 are bosses 12 which are bored to furnish journal bearings for a power shaft 13 extended axially through the cylinder and carrying the piston-drum 14.

The drum is provided upon diametrically opposite sides with cavities 15 to accommodate the wings 16, of piston heads 16 which are connected to the drum so as to be free to oscillate as they successively revolve past the abutments. Such connection between the heads 16 and the drum is accomplished by the provision of a centrally disposed circular segmental rib 16 upon each head be ing respectively socketed in correspondingly shaped recesses 15 inthe drum.

Annular shaped steam chambers 17 and 17 are provided in the respective ends of the cyl- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 22, 1908.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Serial No. 444,814.

inder and are connected by passages 18 and 18 and ports 19 and 19 with a valve-casing 20 which, in turn, is connected by a steam supply pipe 21 and an exhaust pipe 22. Within this casing is a valve 23 which is chambered from one end to make communication be tween said exhaust pipe and one of the passages 18 or 18 through an inlet opening 23 of the valve; while the valve is cut away upon the outside to allow of a direct flow of the steam between the pipe 21 and the other of these passages. This valve is provided with a spindle 24 which extends through a stufiing box 20 on the valve-casing and carries a handle 24 whereby the valve may be rotated when the direction of the shafts rotation is to be reversed.

The passages 18 and 1S terminate, as aforesaid, in annular chambers 17 and 17 located at the opposite ends of the engine and are provided with groups of spaced openings, or ports, 26 and 26 in the respective ends of the cylinder, as illustrated in Fig. 3. These groups, or pairs, of ports at one end of the cylinder are severally arranged to be adjacent to the aforesaid abutments and at one side of radial planes respectively projected through the same; and the pairs of ports at the other end are correspondingly placed but upon the opposite sides. Positioned within the chambers 17 and 17 respectively are rotary cut-off valves 27 and 27 having ports 28 arranged to be brought into register with either or both ports, 26 and 26, of the various pairs according to the point at which the steam is to be intermittently cut off upon the steamintake end and with respect to the travel of the piston-heads. In order that all of the ports at the exhaust end will remain open, while the ports on the intake end are more or less closed, the ports of the out OK valve are made of greater arcuate lengths than is necessary to expose the respective pairs of ports 26 and 26. The out off valves are each formed with a sleeve 27 which are mounted for rotation upon the bosses 12 and extend through stufling boxes 29. Rigidly connected to the protruding ends of the valve-sleeves are the branches 30 of a lever 30 which is employed to manipulate the cut off valves in unison and, to facilitate the proper setting of the same, a plate 31 is provided with notches 31 which are spaced to accommodate a spring-pressed latch-bolt In the drum are conduits 32 and 33 extending from its peripheryto positions upon. the drum ends such as to oppose the ports 26 and 26" at the opposite ends of the cylinder. The conduits 32 and 33 are disposed to be in proximity of and upon opposite sides of the respective pistons whence it is seen that when one of these sets of conduits, as 32 for example, is employedfor steam induct-ion the other set would serve as exhaust passages. I

32 and '83 are branches to the conduits for conveying steam to or from the recesses 15 toactuate the piston heads in their oscillating movements.

Packing rings, such as 34, are provided where they are deemed necessary to prevent the leakage of steam between the drum and the cylinder endsrand, for a like service, packing strips 35 may advantageously be utilized to interceptany leakage'between' opposite sides of the various abutments.

Assuming thatv the reversing valve .23 is adjusted as shown in Fig. 2, the steam will be admitted through passages 18 to the steam chamber 17, and, when the conduits 32' are presented to the chamber ports 19 the steam acting under the wings 16 of the piston heads to maintain their extremiably moved through the oflices of the lever 30. When steam is admitted through the conduits and passes, as just explained, at one end of the engine, the conduits and passages with accented corresponding numbers at the other end serve to convey the exhaust steam away. To reverse the engine, the valve 23 is adjusted to direct the currents of steam, both the intake and exhaust, in opposite directions from their previously assumed courses.

What we claim, is

1. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, spaced abutments, a drum in said cylinder, two-blade piston heads pivoted on said drum, a passage for conducting motive fluid to the rear of either blade, the passages for I one set of blades being constructed to serve as exhausts when the other passages serve as inlets.

2. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, spaced abutments, a drum in said cylinder, two-blade piston heads pivoted on .said drum, a main passage for each blade of the piston head, branch passages leading -directly to the under face of said blades, said main'passages being open at any position of the blades.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures 1n the presence of two wltnesses.

WVitnesses D. CARL PEARSON, ALLAN BARTZ. 

